


A Short Reprieve

by geeksoup



Category: Half-Life
Genre: American Sign Language, Crappy College Dorm Party But It's Not College, Fluff, Gen, Hard of Hearing Gordon Freeman, M/M, Mute Gordon Freeman, Pre-Canon, World's Best Host Barney Calhoun, alcohol use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geeksoup/pseuds/geeksoup
Summary: Barney has invited his buddies from the Security Force and the Science Team over for a little party before the big experiment the next week. It proves to be a nice distraction, despite some underlying tensions.
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman, Freehoun
Kudos: 106





	A Short Reprieve

**Author's Note:**

> Gordon using American Sign Language (ASL) will be indicated with [brackets]. The Teen rating is for mild language and alcohol-- just making sure everyone is aware and comfortable with that content.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this little piece! I finished playing Black Mesa (the Half-Life 1 remake) recently, and I wanted to get out of a huge writing slump by spitting out a little pre-Resonance Cascade goodness. Thank you for reading!

Finding the room number Barney had given Gordon wasn’t difficult—the Black Mesa Security Force dormitories were organized by squad and what area they operated in. Security Force living space was cramped compared to the Science Team dorms. They reminded him painfully of his undergrad dorm with its dingy fluorescent lights, threadbare carpeted halls, and community bathroom that was just humid enough to grow Funky Molds.

Room 404 was where Barney said he lived. Gordon had thought it was funny coincidence considering how bad Barney was with computers, but Barney hadn’t got the joke when he mentioned it. When he was outside the door, Gordon bit the inside of his cheek and took a deep breath, gripping his meager offering of popcorn bags (extra buttery flavor) tighter. No one outside the Physics Department had ever invited him to hang out until now, and he’d never been a party guy in college. He thought through an itemized list of reasons why he may be feeling nervous: possibility he wouldn’t know anyone at the party, fear of being an “outsider,” today’s lunch making his stomach feel funky… He shook his head to clear his racing thoughts and knocked on the door before turning the knob.

What a party, Gordon thought. People from Physics, Anomalous Materials, Hazardous Materials and Environments, and the Security Force were packed into Barney’s squad’s tiny dorm room sharing snacks and drinking beer. There were even some older scientists in a corner arguing about something trivial from today’s tests. Upbeat music played low under the chatter. Gordon touched a finger to his hearing aids to make sure they were in his ears properly before he stepped into the group. “Oh hey, it’s Freeman!” Gina from Anomalous Materials said, gesturing toward Gordon with her drink. The room erupted into greetings and Gordon waved back, feeling a bit small. "You're just in time, we just got started!" Gina motioned for him to sit next to her with the rest of the Sector C people, but before Gordon could even take a step, a loud voice cut over the din of the party.

“GORDON! You made it!” Barney cheered from the kitchen. His cheeks were splotched red from having one too many drinks and he was grinning from ear to ear. Gordon couldn’t help but grin too as Barney dragged him by the arm into the kitchen and babbled on about how the party was going great so far. The kitchen was a hot mess: salsa had spilled over half the counter and a bag of tortilla chips lay forgotten inside the dishwasher. Gordon wrinkled up his nose at the sight but was quickly distracted by Barney suddenly leaning in close, his eyes narrowed. “Hey. Didja bring… The Goods?” Barney shout-whispered. Gordon snorted a laugh and poked Barney’s chest with the popcorn bags he brought.

“Hell yeah, man!” Barney said as he snatched the bags from Gordon and shoved one into the microwave. Barney slung an arm around Gordon’s shoulders and guided him back into the main room. Somebody slipped an unopened bottle of beer into his hand and Gordon sat next to Gina, Barney flopping down on the couch with his legs across one of his squad mate’s lap. “Fuck off, Calhoun,” the squad mate grumbled while Barney gave a shit-eating grin. He slid to the floor shortly after his legs were pushed away and he rolled across the rug toward Gordon.

Gordon popped the cap off his beer with the thin edge of the bunk above him and took a small sip as Barney’s head bumped into his shoe. He tapped Barney on the shoulder and signed, [Watch your head.] Barney giggled and struggled to sit up before Gordon offered him a hand. Barney scooted in front of Gordon and positioned himself so that he could lean back onto Gordon’s shins while he sat on the floor. Gordon snorted out a laugh and leaned forward so Barney could see him ask, [Comfortable?]

Barney tilted his head up to look at Gordon’s face. “Uh huh!” he replied. Barney let more of his weight sink back against Gordon and nudged a plate of pizza bites towards him with his foot. This was about as intimate as they’d been with each other in a while. As testing in Sector C became increasingly complicated and frequent, Gordon was having to spend more hours and weekends working overtime on reports and last-minute analyses. Barney would drop by Gordon’s office when he could, but truthfully? Gordon was eager for when they could hang out in private again.

“So, you ready for the big test on Monday, Dr. Freeman?” Colette from Hazardous Environments asked. Gordon nodded. [We’ve been preparing the anti-mass spectrometer to handle the new sample for several days now. Dr. Vance says we should be clear for testing,] he signed. Colette nodded and downed the rest of her beer.

“Yeah, the sample came in today, so Gina and I will be coming in on Sunday to do prep work,” she said. The microwave beeped, signaling that the popcorn was ready, and Barney stumbled to his feet. He yelled something about a big bowl before disappearing into the kitchen. “What are you guys testing this week?” the security guard on the couch asked. His nametag said his name was Smith.

Colette and Gina exchanged a look before they both glanced at Gordon, who raised an eyebrow at the women. “That’s… above our clearance to say,” Colette explained. The many conversations had died down by now and all the party guests’ attentions were on Gina, Colette, and Gordon. One of the older scientists in the room reached across his buddies to grab a fresh beer. “I heard it was another mineral sample from wherever-the-hell Biologics is getting their shit from these days,” he grumbled.

"And, aren't you two Level 4? Surely you can let a few secrets slip..." a scientist from Physics said. Gordon remembered him from his first weeks at Black Mesa.

“Hey, Biologics is pulling in our grant money right now, Dr. Marcus. If they weren’t doing their jobs, _we_ wouldn’t have work to do either,” Gina said to the first scientist, crossing her arms. Dr. Marcus put up his hands in surrender and took a long sip of beer.

Gordon stared down at his drink. Earlier today he’d overheard Dr. Vance and Dr. Kleiner arguing about how much Black Mesa’s machinery was able to handle. Everything had been updated after Y2K, but that hadn’t made Dr. Vance feel any better about what Anomalous Materials was asking of the system for this upcoming test.

“I just don’t know, Izzy,” Dr. Vance had said. “Our machinery isn’t _built_ for over one hundred per-cent power—she hardly pushed eighty the other day!”

Dr. Kleiner had patted Dr. Vance on the shoulder and given him a comforting smile. “We’ll be able to figure it all out. Thanks to your expertise, our machinery is running even better than it was even last year! There’s nothing to worry about,” Kleiner assured. Dr. Vance had sighed and turned back to the computer he was examining, making a few tweaks to the display every now and then. Gordon left soon after that.

The frantic worry Dr. Vance’s tone had caused Gordon to start worrying too; Eli Vance wasn’t an easily shaken guy. But what worried him more was how calm Dr. Kleiner seemed about the whole ordeal. [Yes, potentially. We’ve been examining a lot of foreign minerals,] Gordon replied to the disgruntled scientist.

“With _great_ results! Did you know that certain—” Gina began excitedly before Colette jabbed her with an elbow. Fortunately, that awkward moment was broken by Barney coming back into the room and setting a bowl of popcorn down in the middle of the floor with a flourish. “Eat up guys! Gordon brought extra-buttery!” Barney exclaimed before shoving a handful into his mouth.

The party settled back into comfortable chatter about work and what everyone’s plans for the weekend were. It was a relief after the strange wave of nerves that had washed over Gordon when Monday’s test was mentioned. Barney’s new presence next to him on the couch was also a lot of help. Gordon could feel the alcohol-fueled heat of the younger man’s body seep in through his uniform button-down. He wanted to lean against Barney’s shoulder, but the thought of their relationship becoming more public than just a few pointed jokes and rumors made his stomach curdle. Gordon settled for the heat.

\---

The party ended a little before one a.m. Gordon stayed behind to help Barney clean up—well, “help” was hardly the right word for it, seeing as Barney wasn’t doing much to clean. Instead, he was draped over the back of the couch, watching Gordon wipe up the spilled salsa in the kitchen. “Y’know, Doc… You look pretty great with your shirt like that,” Barney drawled.

Gordon looked down at himself. He’d rolled his shirtsleeves up and undone a few buttons at some point during the evening, letting a bit of his chest peak out. He rolled his eyes and turned to face Barney. [You’ve seen me like this before, Barn,] he replied.

Barney grinned back at Gordon. “Oh sure, but not in a while,” Barney said, sliding off the couch and standing slowly so he didn’t fall over. Gordon raised an eyebrow and tossed his wad of salsa-soaked paper towels into the trashcan. [It’s not my fault that AnMat is breaking our backs right now,] he said, his shoulders drooping. Barney tutted and frowned before he carefully made his way over to Gordon. He wrapped his arms around Gordon’s waist from behind. “I’m flirting with you, dummy,” Barney laughed.

The chaste kiss he pressed to Gordon’s shoulder made Gordon blush bright red. Has it been _that_ long since he’d been touched? He settled back into Barney’s embrace and folded his hands over the ones around his middle. “Hey… I saw you have a moment early on in the party. You alright?” Barney asked.

Gordon sighed. [Yeah. I’m a bit nervous about Monday,] he admitted.

"I figured as much. Did somebody say something? You’ve been training with that HEV suit for months now, darlin’.”

The pet name made Gordon smile. He patted Barney’s hands and shook his head no. Barney slid his hands up to Gordon’s shoulders and turned him around to face him. “You’ll be alright, yeah? You’re a smart, strong guy. If anything does happen, I know you’ll be able to handle it.” Barney smiled softly and kissed Gordon on the cheek. “But, if it gets real bad, I’ll be down there quicker than anything. Okay?” he said, kind face now serious. Gordon met his eyes and nodded. They stood holding each other for a long time, listening to the building thrum beneath their feet.

[…Do you want to come over tomorrow? I have a break until midday Sunday,] Gordon asked at length. Barney’s face lit up.

“Sure thing! Ooh—I’ll see if I can’t steal Smith’s copy of _Jurassic Park_. I can’t believe you’ve never seen it!” he said. Barney’s glee was contagious and Gordon let himself grin back. He snorted a laugh and shrugged before he removed himself from Barney’s grasp. [I have to go to bed if you want this to happen,] Gordon said, waggling a teasing finger at Barney after he was done signing.

Barney pouted. “No goodbye kiss?” he whined. Gordon furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, pretending to think very hard while Barney put on his best puppy-dog eyes. [Okay, fine,] Gordon said finally with an exaggerated sigh. Barney met him halfway and they kissed for the first time in weeks. Gordon finally felt at ease for the first time that night as Barney threaded his fingers through Gordon’s hair. When they parted, Barney stroked his thumb over Gordon’s cheek.

“Sleep well, Doc,” he said softly. Gordon huffed out a laugh and gave Barney a quick kiss on the nose for good measure. [You do too. And drink some water,] he replied.

Barney grinned and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Will do. See you tomorrow!” he said, showing Gordon to the door. Gordon waved goodbye and shut the door behind him. He hurried back to his apartment as fast as the tram would let him, eager for the morning.


End file.
